United Party for National Development (UPND) Zambezi East Member of Parliament Brian Kambita has charged that Patriotic Front (PF) led Government’s poor management has destroyed the once promising Zambian economy.
Kambita reiterated that over borrowed money has not been used prudently as a result much of the borrowed money has been taken to projects that do not value like Zambia Railways.
The law maker alleged that although the rehabilitation of some Roads is a good thing the PF is embarking on big projects like building tarmacs for political expedience.
“PF is doing some projects elsewhere and they are getting finished in a speedy manner but we wonder why Chingola Solwezi road has taken long”
“If there is a place which needed a railway line, it is North- western province which is an emerging economic hub of this country. We need to connect North Western province to Chingola”
“There are no deliberate policies to take advantage of the market in Angola and DR Congo” “Look at the road going to Mushindano …it is really pathetic….trucks are getting stuck near the border at Kipushi Boarder which leads to Congo boarder post because the road is in a deplorable state and government is unworried”
“It is evident that even after putting in a lot of money in Zambia Railways, the institution is still facing challenges.” he said.
And the Zambezi East UPND Member of Parliament Brian Kambita accused the PF led Government of only getting money from north western to build Paul Mushindo University in Chinsali yet the people of North western province have no University.
He added that apart from pineapples, Mwinilunga has the capacity to plant mangoes and by now Zambia could have been talking about a food processing plant in North western province.
“PF enjoy lies…you have pronouncements of millions of jobs …today you are hearing of a bumper harvest which we doubt because of the army worms which struck the country” Kambita said
A fair assessment which is not treasonable!
The speaker did well to suspend these MPs. At least they can now check on developmental projects. I pray that their suspension be extended for another 2months.
Meaning the speaker would be commended even more if he suspended the entire house for no reason for the rest of the term of parliament?
You are right, this statement is not treasonous.
What is he talking about this tribalist and how much money is coming from Solwezi? Mines do not contribute anything to the government. They are all loss making companies. Why always comparison is made on the projects done in Bemba land and forget to mention Mongu Kalabo road which gobbled a lot of nation cake and yet PF got no vote at all. Leave bemba speaking people alone. I am Tonga but l like the bemba spirit. They do not even segregate when they handling national issues. viva bemba you are my people.
Without being tribal I am proud of the welcoming and accommodating spirit among my people of Luapula. They never discuss tribe. They will criticize an individual but never where he comes from.
Exposed pf supporter come rain come sun shine pf will never win from the north west because we don’t support corruption .no matter his much you hate us it does not bother us .
@2.2 Eddie who hates who? Please leave your emotions at your kaya. So every bemba is PF to you including GBM? No wonder you’ll continue lagging behind ..with such attitude.
Talking about a tribe when the article does not suggest so is all wrong
Only someone who was born in 1990 can fail to understand the Zambian economy. It’s like a yo yo .. it flourishes when the copper price rises and falls with it. I remember KK boasting that Zambia “is paradise ….” only to u turn a year later that “we’re a poor nation and must live like that “. As for NWP you can’t blame PF for lack of development. You had very powerful representatives in the likes of Humphrey Mulemba, Samuel Mbilishi, Fine Bulawayo, Ludwig Sondashi, Dr Matoka and many others. Blame these people for having done anything for the province.
Why talk as if you are under-age? You’re referring to the days of the PIG (Party and its government) of KK. It was a one-man show (KK) and the rest was window dressing. The only difference is that today there is not even window dressing.
At least ONE UPND MP has WOKEN UP to START DOING HIS WORK!!Ba Kambita, concerning ROADS and RAILWAY LINE I agree with you, our markets for processed agric products are much more promising in Angola, DRC and Great Lakes regions. We need to improve linkages there! But then YOUR COMPLAINTS ARE AN INDICTMENT ON YOU, NW MPs: WHY CANT YOU UNITE AS NW MPs,SEEK AUDIENCE WITH GOVERNMENT ESPECIALLY THE PRESIDENT and EXPRESS YOUR WISHES?? YOUR GRIEVANCES ARE GENUINE BUT YOU HAVE BEEN SIDETRACKED TO CONCENTRATE ON A CONFRONTATIONAL AGENDA OF HH WHILE YOUR PROVINCE IS LAGGING BEHIND. As for a University in Muchinga or wherever, that is for all Zambians, since not all 10 Provinces have Universities so that is a NON ISSUE!
Why not talk about his Constituence.Dull chap he is already drunk with kachasu.
Go and sort out that compound called Chingalala.
I wonder how old Hon Brian Kambita was, when the country’s parastatals were mercilessly looted by the Late FTJ, HH and many others, under the guise of privatization. For your own information, about 400 companies that were under the Mining and Industrial Development Corporation (MINDECO) were recklessly sold at popcorn prices by this bunch of heartless men and women. There is no way of knowing the future, except by the past. Likewise, it is easier to destroy than to build. It took President Kaunda and his team over 20 years to build that collection of companies, yet they were destroyed in less than five years by HH, the Late FTJ and their cohorts.
In Muchinga there are two universities. Why? The North Western is the emerging market. Copperbelt is a bygone. To ignore North western now may result is lost opportunity to our economy. Why building township roads in Lusaka, Chipata, shiwangandu and Chinsali when you need the foreign exchange revenue quickly that be obtained from North western. By building the Solwezi chingola road can be value addition to the much needed revenue collection.
In fact there is nothing much that comes from Northern , Luapula, Muchinga and Eastern provinces to talk about in terms of economic growth. This are consumption provinces not productive.
These provinces are heavily subsided by other provinces. Central , Western,Southern , North Western , Copperbelt and Lusaka contribute significantly to the…
Check how much revenue is being collected at Nakonde border… Where does the Oil pipeline pass thru… if you check these facts you will just realise how dull you are…
there were no 400 companies under MINDECO. HH never privatized the companies. It was MMD. PF has privatized ZNBC, leased out Lumumba Market to the Chinese, sold golden shares in ZCCM holding companies to the Israelites.
Zambians we allow foreigners to create wealth and deny fellow Zambians. Too much talk and less work.
This is what upnd leaders tell their voters in 3.5 provinces.tribalism is upnd’s daily food.
Copper mines were openned in north western province few years ago.from 1964 only copperbelt had mines,but no lamba person blamed Govnt for using copper money to develop Lusaka and other provinces.the reasoning of many upnd leaders is weird.today how much money do Govnt collect from the mines?little, as those mines always cry about making losses.besides,Govnt decide where to take development.n/western is not the only province in Zambia!!SO THIS TRIBAL MP CAN GO TO HELL!!
There is nothing tribal about claiming your birth rights. In fact, when you do nothing about your rights, it means you are being exploited.
#robmwale, they say, “If you know not, and you know that you know not, you are wise. But if you know not, and you don’t know that you know not, then you are foolish”. Go to the now Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and find out how many companies existed under Zambia Industrial and Mining Corporation (ZIMCO) before October 1991. In addition, go to the Ministry of Finance or Ministry of Commerce and find out who was main liquidator of most the companies that were privatized. For your own information, most of the companies, if not all, were scandalously undervalued by the liquidator, so that he and his ring of plunderers could enrich themselves. Inasmuch as privatization was an MMD brainchild, those that were given the responsibility needed to exercise high levels of morality in…
#robmwale, here are excerpts from a December 2007 interview, Bivan Saluseki, of the defunct, “The Post” (now masked as, “The Mast”) conducted with the then Zambia Privatization Agency Director, Mr James Matale.
Matale explains Zambia’s privatisation ‘mess’
By Bivan Saluseki
Sunday December 16, 2007 [03:00]
ZAMBIA’S privatisation programme ranks as the biggest fraud in economic history, discloses former Zambia Privatisation Agency (ZPA) director James Matale. Matale served as director from November 1992 until he was fired in September 1994. He says the destruction of the public enterprises during the Chiluba regime that accounted for over 80 per cent of economic activity was an act of unprecedented vandalism.
#robmwale, the inter view continues….
“It surpassed even the destructiveness of the definitive Attila the Hun. Zambia lost economic investments and assets accumulated over a period of 100 years,” he says.
“A large proportion of the famous K7 billion debt was attributable to investments in assets and operations of the public enterprises. For instance, with the destruction of Zambia Airways, Zambia lost the entire stock of civil aviation technology that she had acquired over 30 years at a great cost. I think that, in the fullness of time, when all the numbers are finally tallied up and the last statements recorded, the Zambian privatisation programme will rank as the biggest fraud in economic history.”
So what went wrong with Zambia’s privatisation programme?
Matale offers a rare insight into this monster of a programme whose benefits some Zambians have been questioning over the years.
Matale explains that the programme faced resistance and opposition from several critical stakeholders.
He also explains that there was a deliberate effort by powerful business interests in the government to treat enterprises and assets lined up for privatisation as goods fallen from the back of a delivery truck.
The donors too had their own invisible hand on the process.
Now, Matale explains some of the problems the exercise experienced.
He also talks about his life and constant dismissals and subsequent loss of friends who used to hang around him when he was in such big positions.
Q: I would like to welcome you to this interview. We have heard so much about Reverend Matale and hardly about you. Can you give me a brief background of yourself?
A: Thank you very much. I readily recall that one of the conceptual meetings leading to the establishment of The Post Newspaper was actually held in this house in 1990. My names are James Matale. I was born in Namwala where I also did my first three years of school at Nanzhila Primary School. Thereafter, I went to live with my uncle who was a teacher. I did Standard 2 at Nalutanda Primary School in Monze, Standard 3 at Mangwele in Namwala and part of Standard 4 at Nteme Primary School in Monze. In 1961, my uncle joined the First King’s African Rifles and was transferred to Zomba in Malawi. I finished Standard 4 at the then…
Apart from making friends in many parts of the country and beyond, one of my treasured dividends of itinerancy is that I have Tonga on my Standard 2 certificate, Nyanja on my Standard 6 certificate, Bemba on my Form 2 certificate and French on my Form 5 certificate.
I came to the university in 1969 originally to pursue a course in electrical engineering. After a stint in the schools of natural sciences and engineering, I relocated to humanities and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with economics in 1974.
Q: What about your family?
A: Yes I am married to Reverend Suzanne Matale. We married in 1982 and have four children.
Upon return from studies, I was promoted to the position of Senior Manager and subsequently transferred to the Directorate of Development as Deputy Director. I was responsible for the Small-Scale Mining Unit with copper at Kansanshi, emeralds in Ndola Rural, marble in Lusaka and gold projects in Mumbwa; the Mining Enterprises Trust, for the resettlement of retired and retrenched miners in agricultural and small-scale industrial activities, and the then Parts Manufacturing Facility PMF which was modelled on the excellent precedent of Les Ateliers de Likasi operated by Gecamines of the Congo. ZCCM intended to establish plants to fabricate up to 60 per cent of its spare parts requirements, thereby cutting down the cost of production considerably.
I think Kansanshi Mine has a very interesting chequered history. It was the first copper mine that was discovered in Zambia in 1899 and experienced several closures and re-openings. I am happy to note that Kansanshi is now one major operation. How I wish somebody could chronicle its phases.
I can say without any hesitation that during the 15 years with ZCCM, I worked with merit and the highest level of integrity. Actually, I was looking forward to the inscribed Omega watch as a 20-year long service award. I also kept a set of ZCCM neckties as souvenirs that I intended to wear in retirement and old age. Instead, I was fired in 1992. I do not know what to do with the new ZCCM ties still in their covers
Q: You are the only director that was fired by the MMD at that time.
A: Actually, I think I enjoy the dubious honour of being the only senior person who was fired because all other senior persons that the system did not want were first suspended before being retired for whatever reasons.
Q: What were the reasons they gave for your dismissal?
A: The then Acting Director of Human Resources told me verbatim that “the Acting Chairman and Chief Executive is not comfortable working with you… He has decided to terminate your services with immediate effect. … He has given you the option to resign in order to protect your name”. I refused the option to resign because I had done nothing for which I would be ashamed of, nor breached any company regulation or any law. The letter of termination did not even bother to state any reason for the termination of services. In the state of dispossession and disgrace that I have been since then, this letter has remained one of my treasured possessions. I just do not know who to bequeath it to on my expiration!
In June 1992, I was surprised to be told that my case was listed for hearing in March 1993. When I realised that the case would be prolonged, I applied for the advertised position of director of the Zambia Privatisation Agency ZPA. After three interviews, I was given the job of director in November 1992.
Q: How many years did you stay at ZPA?
A: I was at ZPA for 20 months until I was fired again on 8th September 1994.
Q: What are the reasons they gave?
A: Again surprisingly, there were no reasons. When I took ZPA to court for unfair dismissal, they said that an American consultant had instructed the Board to fire me. When the report of the consultant was tendered in court they could neither find the chapter nor verse with that order. Then they fished around for reasons, including…
Q: Privatisation has remained a big talking point in Zambia with some people saying that it was rushed.
A: Privatisation was the most important economic reform and adjustment programme that was intended to address stagnation that had afflicted the economy due to lack of capital for reinvestment, expansion, importation of raw materials and working capital.
It was an awesome burden to be in charge of the programme that should have turned round the economy on the basis of the existing economic and social infrastructure. You know at the time of privatisation, Zambia had considerable economic infrastructure and assets inherited from nearly 100 years dating from the periods of colonialism, federation and independence.
I was aware that the economic success of the government depended on how well the privatization programme was executed. I was fortunate to have had Mr John Mwanakatwe as chairman of the Agency. We shared a vision of a successful privatisation that would meet the expectations of Zambia for a successful economic turnaround. We also shared high levels of maturity and integrity. I used to muse that after achieving good results with privatisation, I would be awarded a medal for meritorious service! I got the boot, instead. (Sighs)
But, during those early days of privatisation, the programme faced four principal dangers:
Firstly, the programme faced resistance and opposition from several critical stakeholders. I estimate that support for privatization in the government at high levels, including Cabinet, was probably less than 50 per cent. ZIMCO and other holding companies were against privatization and often used their best endeavours and privileged access to the high echelons of government to undermine and frustrate privatization.
For instance, ZIMCO often questioned valuations by independent accounting firms in preference for its own valuations which did not meet the requirements of the law and were almost unprofessional. Demonstrations were even planned against me for the valuations of ZAMEFA (Zambia Metal Fabrication).
We rejected the price of less than US$ 18 million that the shareholders in ZAMEFA were prepared to pay for the government shares. Do not ask me what they subsequently sold ZAMEFA for. If I had sold ZAMEFA and the mines at the prices that have been reported, they would have had a perfect excuse for hanging me publicly. ZIMCO and other holding companies surprisingly also appeared to facilitate and encourage asset stripping of state enterprises under their charges.
Secondly, there was a deliberate effort by powerful business interests in government to treat enterprises and assets lined up for privatisation as goods fallen from the back of a delivery truck.
Thirdly, there was pressure from quarters of the donor community to fast- track the programme and for specific assets in the…
Some donors were clearly frustrated by the elaborate processes that ensured that the enterprises were properly privatised to meet the provisions of the law, including transparency and integrity. (He mentions the countries which mounted pressure but begs that they should not be named)
The humdinger was that the social, economic, political and legal environments were not correct for the rapid mass privatization envisaged by the Zambian programme. To be honest with you, the economy did not have the capacity for rapid privatisation that some donors agitated for.
The humdinger was that the social, economic, political and legal environments were not correct for the rapid mass privatization envisaged by the Zambian programme. To be honest with you, the economy did not have the capacity for rapid privatisation that some donors agitated for.
I often used to joke that accelerating the programme was akin to pushing the proverbial Yugo down the hill!
In those early days, we tried to balance the contending forces and interests to achieve what we felt were in the best interests of the Zambian economy. But the counter forces were more powerful; Chairman Mwanakatwe was politely shoved to head the Constitutional Review Commission and I was booted out.
I am aware that after my dismissal, considerable resources were poured into privatisation to fast track the programme. The handiwork of pushing the privatization process beyond the capacity of the economy has now been acknowledged, even by the former Minister of Commerce, who was responsible for the programme, as a serious error. That must be the understatement of the new millennium. It is a strange system and culture where our leaders are willing and keen to take profit but not the responsibility that goes with it.
The destruction of the public enterprises that accounted for over 80 per cent of economic activity was an act of unprecedented vandalism. It surpassed even the destructiveness of the definitive Attila the Hun. Zambia lost economic investments and assets accumulated over a period of 100 years.
A large proportion of the famous K 7 billion debt was attributable to investments in assets and operations of the public enterprises. For instance, with the destruction of Zambia Airways, Zambia lost the entire stock of civil aviation technology that she had acquired over 30 years at a great cost.
I think that, in the fullness of time, when all the numbers are finally tallied up and the last statements recorded, the Zambian privatisation programme will rank as the biggest fraud in economic history.
Q: Your dismissals, there must surely be reasons why you were treated like that.
A: As I have explained, there have been no official reasons that have been given to me. But parallel sources have provided me with lots of reasons. I do not think that there is a single crime in the criminal procedure Act that I have not been charged with.
I also recall that a lot of the men and women who went into government were full of malice and prejudice. Current revelations also clearly show that some were even criminals. The public power which they assumed since 1991 afforded them the opportunities to put into practice their private malicious agendas.
I have also observed, coincidentally, that all the people involved in my persecutions were subsequently rewarded with inducements, promotions and appointments. If I had not done probability theory at school, I would have concluded that my persecutions had a grander design.
…..#robmwale, I hope this gives you a glimpse of the common character of the people that participated in the privatization programme between 1992 and 2005.
Fuehrer surely you must have some hint on the causes of your continuous dismissals. Or am I missing something?
#Ndaje khakis, this an excerpt from an interview that was done in December 2007 under the auspices of the the “The Post Newspaper” by Mr Bivan Saluseki, who used to work for the newspaper. A former Director at the then Zambia privatization Agency (ZPA), Mr James Matale, is the one who underwent the dismissals, not me.
That’s what I missed
@ Fuehrer, The Supreme Leader HH of the UPND and his friends involved in the Privatisation Programme will never have a piece of mind in their lives until they repent…
@Zakeyo, up to now, you don’t get it? Where does HH come in in what has been written? Was he in MMD?
So UPNDonkeys, where is the dictatorship kanshi you donkeys if the MP can issue such a lie and be quoted on LT without fearing to be incarcerated?
@Nkhata bay, there are a lot of people that were involved in the privatization programme that haven’t been mentioned, for example, the Late Ronald Penza, Late Emmanuel Kasonde and Mr Valentine Chitalu, but it does not take away the fact that they were part of the privatization mess. Don’t be lazy, go to Ministry of Finance, and get information on who was involved and what role they played. In case you don’t know where the Ministry of Finance is located, it is opposite the Force Headquarters.